April 2008 Basketball Wiretap

Even if Knick President Donnie Walsh comes calling, Rick Pitino said that he has no interest in returning to the NBA, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post.

"It's a young man's game," Pitino told The Post. "I'm 55 now. I take 15 hours now to prepare for one game. I don't know how I'd do that 90 times a year. I take my hat off to Pat Riley and Phil Jackson. I don't know how they do it."

UCLA's Darren Collison announced Saturday that he will return for his senior season instead of joining teammates who have declared for the NBA draft, as reported by ESPN.com.

"I want to give myself the best possible chance to succeed at the next level," Collison was quoted as saying by the Los Angeles Times. "I have not made this decision impulsively. I have unfinished business at UCLA. I want to complete my education, and when I do enter the draft I don't want to be just another prospect."

John Calipari signed a contract extension to remain the coach at Memphis through the 2012-13 campaign Saturday, as reported by Yahoo.com.

The signing comes less than three weeks after the Tigers fell to Kansas in the title game.

The new contract has a total guaranteed package of $2.35M, which includes a $500,000 increase over Calipari?s 2007-08 salary. If Calipari remains at Memphis through the length of the contract, he will receive a donor-funded longevity bonus of $5M.

Despite advice from Louisville Coach Rick Pitino that he needs more seasoning in the NCAA, for the moment, forward Derrick Caracter will be staying in the NBA draft, the Associated Press is reporting.

According to the report, Pitino hopes NBA scouts and general managers can succeed at getting through to Caracter that his game might not be NBA-ready.

"I think he's been looking in the mirror and conning himself for a long, long time," Pitino said. "Now he's got to go and find out what the real world is like."

Caracter has not hired an agent, giving him the right to withdraw his declaration and return to school, but Pitino is not expecting him back.

"That's not in the cards for him right now," Pitino said. "It's not in his best interest as well as our best interest. Our best interest and his best interest right now is to try to become a second-round draft pick. Too much has happened for him to turn around now."

Arizona State sophomore Deshean Porchea collapsed and died after playing in a pickup game on campus, the Associated Press is reporting.

School officials said there was nothing unusual about the 19 year old's behavior before passing out and never regaining consciousness.

"He was just a good all-around kid," said ASU Coach Lewis Jackson, who heard the news while on a recruiting trip in Florida. "He played with a contagious fire that carried over to his teammates. He was a good person. It is a great loss to our team and our university."

UConn women's Head Coach Geno Auriemma said Tuesday that the series against Tennessee was canceled because Lady Vols' Coach Pat Summitt accused the rival Huskies of cheating in recruiting, according to an Associated Press report.

Auriemma, speaking to reporters on campus, said Summitt "doesn't have the courage to say it publicly."

O.J. Mayo said on Thursday that he was very tempted to stay at USC for his sophomore season.

"We got put out of the (NCAA) Tournament pretty early, and March Madness is an exciting time for our team and for our program," Mayo said at a Galen Center press conference. "We really felt like we could do well, so for us to get put out early, there's always the feeling that you maybe want to come back and try to go a little further."

While Ohio State freshman Kosta Koufos has not decided whether he is going to return to college or make the jump to the NBA, his mother Kathy Koufos has interviewed sports agents seeking to represent her son.

North Carolina forward Tyler Hansborough won yet another major NCAA award on Friday when he won the John R. Wooden Award as college basketball's top player, giving him essentially a sweep of the season's individual honors.